Thursday, September 12th 2024
GDDR6 GeForce RTX 4070 Tested, Loses 0-1% Performance Against RTX 4070 with GDDR6X
NVIDIA quietly released a variant of the GeForce RTX 4070 featuring slower 20 Gbps GDDR6 memory, replacing the 21 Gbps GDDR6X that the original RTX 4070 comes with. Wccftech has access to a GALAX branded RTX 4070 GDDR6, and put it through benchmarks focused on comparing it to a regular RTX 4070. Memory type and speed are the only changes in specs, the core-configuration isn't changed, nor is the GPU clock speed. Wccftech's testing shows that the RTX 4070 GDDR6 measures within 0-1% slower than the RTX 4070 (GDDR6X) at 1080p and 1440p resolutions; while the difference between the two is about 2% at 4K Ultra HD.
Wccftech's test-bed is comprehensive, with 27 game tests, each across 3 resolutions; and 7 synthetic tests. The synthetic tests are mainly part of the 3DMark test suite, including Speed Way, Fire Strike, Time Spy, Port Royal, and their presets. Here, the RTX 4070 GDDR6 is nearly identical in performance, with a 0-0.2% delta with the RTX 4070 GDDR6X. In the game tests, performance varies by resolution. 1080p has 0-1% performance delta, with the only noteworthy outliers being "Metro Exodus" (extreme preset), where the RTX 4070 GDDR6 loses 4.2%, and "Alan Wake 2," where it loses 2.3%.
The story is somewhat similar with 1440p, with no significant delta across most tests. Outliers include "Metro Exodus" (extreme), where the GDDR6 model bleeds 9.1% performance, and "Alan Wake 2" (-4.8%). In our launch review of the original RTX 4070, we remarked that the card is very much capable of 4K gameplay, if you know your way around game settings, or use DLSS, and so the 4K numbers are somewhat relevant. Averaged across all games, the delta is 2.3%, but most games seem to lose 1-2%, with the outliers extending their margins. "Metro Exodus" is now 10.4% slower, "Alan Wake 2" 2.8% slower, "Dead Space" 2.5% slower, and quite a few others posting losses in excess of 2%.
The 20 Gbps GDDR6 memory option, just in numerical terms, presents a 4.75% drop in memory bandwidth over the 21 Gbps GDDR6X, and we get to see just how much the specs change affects performance. Cards like the GALAX 1-click OC 2X that Wccftech tested, some with clear labelling on the box that mention GDDR6 memory type. Initial availability on Newegg showed that RTX 4070 GDDR6 cards, specifically an ASUS DUAL OC, wasn't priced any lower than its GDDR6X variant. We hope this changes, and the RTX 4070 GDDR6 ends up priced lower enough to match the original in performance/price.
Sources:
Wccftech, VideoCardz
Wccftech's test-bed is comprehensive, with 27 game tests, each across 3 resolutions; and 7 synthetic tests. The synthetic tests are mainly part of the 3DMark test suite, including Speed Way, Fire Strike, Time Spy, Port Royal, and their presets. Here, the RTX 4070 GDDR6 is nearly identical in performance, with a 0-0.2% delta with the RTX 4070 GDDR6X. In the game tests, performance varies by resolution. 1080p has 0-1% performance delta, with the only noteworthy outliers being "Metro Exodus" (extreme preset), where the RTX 4070 GDDR6 loses 4.2%, and "Alan Wake 2," where it loses 2.3%.
39 Comments on GDDR6 GeForce RTX 4070 Tested, Loses 0-1% Performance Against RTX 4070 with GDDR6X
3060 Ti did not use GDDR6X, only 3070 Ti did in the 3060/3070 range
TjMax for GDDR6X is like 95-100C some even list 110-120C but most cards runs them in the 60-80 range
To me this indicates that the 4070 is definitely memory bottlenecked in some titles, because if it wasn't you wouldn't have seen a near 1:1 drop-off in performance.
Mind you the performance difference is really besides the point, the fact remains that Nvidia is using cheaper, slower memory while not passing the savings onto the customers or making it clear in the model name.
The 4070 GDDR6 model consumes 1.52% less power while being 4% slower. It also consumes more power at idle. So overall a small reduction in efficiency.
Also the fps reduction at 1440p where this card's likely to be used is only 3% in their testing. 4% is at 1080p, not really a primary use case for this GPU.
Still with seemingly no price reduction from the GDDR6X model, this provides consumers with a slightly lower value product.
So for all intents and purposes it is a good comparison to the reference model.
FYI a small difference doesn't mean there's nothing to conclude. You are throwing shade on every model variant review with a comment like that. You could perhaps advise waiting for a larger sample size but small doesn't inherently mean the data isn't informing of a genuine difference.
4W difference in idle. And I wouldn't be surprised if 5 different samples of both the FE and the Asus Dual overlap in idle power. Same goes for load power. Too little data in any of these examples to make conclusions so IMO all within normal variance until proven otherwise. I'd love to see a HWInfo chart of the GDDR6 vs GDDR6X power use difference in the two 4070s though so see what the actual difference in power draw is.